By ♬ Woody’s Roundup, come on, it’s time to play. There’s Jessie the yodeling cowgirl ♬ Yodel-ay-hee-hoooooo ♬
Jessie the yodeling cowgirl was not introduced until the second Toy Story movie where we learn that Jessie was part of Woody’s roundup gang in the hit T.V series, ‘Woody’s Roundup’. She is a bubbly, energetic, and strong cowgirl who had been put into storage for quite some time after being abandoned by her previous owner and former best friend, Emily. Of course everything changes when she meets Woody and decides to take a leap of faith for the possibility of being loved by a kid again. Even though Jessie was not one of Andy’s original toys that we saw in the first movie, it is no surprise that she quickly became one of Andy’s favourite toys and was one of the toys Andy decided to hold on to in his toy chest when he was all grown up.
Jessie’s bubbly and enthusiastic nature made her a very loveable character. It is of course no surprise that after the release of the second Toy Story movie Jessie dolls started flooding every toy store. There are a number of variations of the Jessie doll, however the Toy Story Collection Jessie doll definitely takes the prize. The Toy Story Collection Jessie is a very high quality doll and is the most film-accurate doll. As with all the Toy Story Collection/Signature Collection toys, Thinkway Toys has done an excellent job with the packaging for this toy. Jessie comes in a box that is very similar to the box of the Toy Story Collection Woody doll, which of course makes perfect sense because Jessie would have been part of the line of merchandise released for Woody’s Roundup. Just like Woody, the Toy Story Collection Jessie includes the doll, a removable hat, a display stand, and a certificate of authenticity.
The doll itself has a number of different fun features. Similar to the Woody doll, the Jessie doll has a demo mode and a play mode in which she has a ‘dual Interactive Jessie and Cowgirl Doll mode’. This means that when you pull her pull-string, she will be in her cowgirl doll mode but will also be interactive and respond to your voice if you speak to her. In Jessie’s play mode she can speak up to 33 different sayings. To switch between the modes you need to access the switch located under her clothes on her back where her shirt and jeans meet. This can be a bit of a pain to get to but it is definitely worth it. She talks, sings, and yodels!
The detail of this doll is absolutely stunning as it was made using the original digital data from the movie. She is a rag doll with real yarn hair just like she did in the movie and she also has a nice gigantic smile on her face. Her jeans are made of real denim and her hat is made of a polyvinyl material with real stitching all around it. Many Toy Story fans have developed a theory about this hat leading them to believe that Andy’s mom may have been Emily, Jessie’s previous owner. This is because Andy wears a hat identical to Jessie’s hat in the first and second movie. I personally am not a believer of this theory because a few things just do not add up. If Andy’s mom was Emily, surely she would have remembered Jessie and mentioned something about playing with her all the time when she was younger. More importantly, Jessie would have recognized Andy’s mom considering how much she loved and adored Emily. As interesting of a twist as that would have been, I don’t think it’s true L One complaint I have about the doll is that the cow print material on her jeans could have been made better than it was. The material on the doll has a very plastic feel. Although I would never have expected real cowhide, it would have been nice to see something that had a fabric feel to it rather than plastic. The upside of the plastic is that the cow print looks great and is less likely to get dirty/easier to clean.
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he biggest difference between the Toy Story/Signature Woody and the Toy Story/Signature Collection Jessie is that Jessie’s display stand far surpasses Woody’s display stand. Jessie’s display stand is in the shape of a horseshoe rather than a Sherriff’s star and this makes it far sturdier and more reliable. I have placed my Jessie doll on her display stand and she has never fallen down. This is great news and it means that you can display your Jessie doll proudly without worrying about her falling over and getting damaged.
Overall, the Toy Story Collection Jessie doll is a definite must-have for any Toy Story fan and collector. I recommend you get one while they are still available for a reasonable cost. Alternatively, there are other variations of the Jessie doll and some of them do look quite accurate to the movie, particularly the other Jessie dolls made by Thinkway Toys. My issue with these dolls is that their prices are not that much lower than the Toy Story Collection/Signature Collection doll considering the drop in the quality of the material. However, these dolls would be the perfect choice for playtime where they may get damaged. If you do decide to go with another Jessie doll, I would avoid the Jessie doll sold in the actual Disney stores because this one is not the greatest and is not movie accurate at all. No matter which Jessie doll you may choose, she is an absolute must have for any Toy Story collection J.